When Death Lingers
by CrazedNarutoFan
Summary: After the murder of Lord Tsuchikage, his niece, a Rock genin, must take it upon herself to track down the murderers and set things straight, with help and guidance from the Konoha shinobi.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- I don't own any characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto**.

"Congratulations to all of you for coming this far. By this time tomorrow, you will all be put into squads and considered to be true shinobi of the Village Hidden among the Stones."

Lord Tsuchikage, ruler of the village and head ninja, was talking to a large class of academy students. They had completed their tests and training, and were to be graduating the next day.

One girl sat in the back of the room, shifting anxiously in her seat. She had heard the speech the Tsuchikage was giving before. She heard it almost everyday. Her parents had been killed on a mission in the Wind Country, leaving her as an orphan. Luckily her uncle, consequently the Tsuchikage, took her in and raised her with all knowledge of being a good person and an even better shinobi.

"I'm proud of each and every one of you."

The Tsuchikage finished speaking and went up to a group of parents to chat. The kids were dismissed and ran amok happily. The girl left, seeing that her uncle was too busy, and went off to the middle of the village.

It was about noon, so she decided to grab some lunch. She loved ramen.

She sat at the counter of a popular ramen stand and ordered some miso ramen. While waiting for her bowl, she removed her headband from her pocket. She ran her fingers gingerly over the engraved rock symbol and felt the soft, black fabric band that was attached to the metal plate.

"You're finally a ninja?" the owner asked, setting the bowl in front of her.

"Yeah. It's just so hard to believe. I've worked to the bone to achieve this."

The owner looked up and smiled.

"Afternoon, Lord Tsuchikage. Can I get you anything?"

"Miso, please."

The owner turned to continue cooking. The Tsuchikage stood next to the girl and picked up her headband. He put the band to her forehead and tied it in the back.

"I'm so proud of you, Cheyenne."

After eating and talking to her uncle, Cheyenne headed home. She lived alone. She went into her bedroom to rest and prepare for the next day.

Sitting on her bed, Cheyenne opened a shuriken holster and dumped the contents out. She separated the two types of weapons and counted how many there were.

"Hm, twenty shuriken and three kunai. I'd better buy more before starting missions."

"Yup, you'd be a goner."

Flinching in surprise, Cheyenne quickly turned her head to see a figure in the doorway.

"Krin, do you ever knock?"

"Nope!"

Chuckling softly, she invited Krin, her best friend, to sit down.

"Aren't you happy to finally be a ninja?"

"Of course I am."

"Plus, being a relative of Lord Tsuchikage makes being a shinobi even better. By the way, isn't he supposed to go on a trip tomorrow?"

"Yeah. He was going to let me come, but when he saw that graduation was close, he said I had so stay behind."

"Where was he going?"

"My uncle was going to meet with Lord Hokage in the Land of Fire. Anyway, tomorrow we're getting split into squads and put under the leadership of a jonin. I couldn't miss that."

"That's too bad."

Looking out of the window, towards the horizon, Krin noticed how low the sun was.

"I should probably get going now."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye."

Krin left and closed the door behind her. Cheyenne put away her weapons, preparing for the next day.

It was about 12:00 A.M. when Cheyenne awoke. Shivering, she pulled the blankets up to her neck, before realizing the window was open.

'I didn't leave that open,' she thought to herself, getting out of bed.

Cheyenne tried closing the window, but it was jammed. In the moonlight, she saw something wedged in the frame. Removing it, she knew exactly what it was. She walked to a light switch beside the door, flicking it upwards. The light flashed on, blinding her for a moment.

When her eyes adjusted, she looked at the object in her hand. It was a sharp kunai with a note attached.

Undoing the origami-like fold from the handle, Cheyenne opened the paper and read it aloud.

"Everywhere, life ticks away, but the clock has stopped in the Rock Pyre. Nobody could have saved the day."

Confused by the message, she read it again. It didn't make sense, until something in her mind clicked. She knew what the Rock Pyre was. Her uncle lived there and controlled the whole village from there.

"Wait a minute, Rock Pyre and the clock had stopped?"

Suddenly, she knew what was going on. Getting dressed and grabbing the kunai, Cheyenne ran from her house towards the looming obelisk in the middle of the village.

Throwing open a door, she quickly dashed up the stairs to the top floor. At the end of a long hallway, she stopped in front of the door, knowing it was too late.

Cheyenne could almost smell the sickening, decaying stench of a corpses flesh. Not to mention, the small crimson pool of blood she was standing in was a dead giveaway.

**This is the start of a long story. I hope all of you who read this enjoy it. I left chapter one on somewhat of a cliffhanger to build suspense, but it's pretty obvious as to what happens.**

**Please review and enjoy! **


	2. Chapter 2

Cheyenne reached forward to turn the knob when she heard voices murmuring in the room. She put her head to the door and listened closely.

"I can't believe this guy was considered the strongest shinobi in the Land of Earth. He had no idea we were coming."

"Of course not. That's why these missions are called Cloak-and-Dagger operations. They're secret."

"I know, but I was hoping for more of a fight or even a struggle."

"Believe me; we don't need people finding out what happened. Anyway, we should leave before someone comes looking for the fool."

Cheyenne couldn't stand it anymore. She turned the knob, letting the door fly open and slam into the wall. She saw two ninja dressed in black, standing by an open window.

The two looked at her in surprise, drawing up kunai in a possible offense. But upon seeing her, they relaxed and began to laugh.

"What's this? A pathetic kid? Wow, this is a lame village."

"Don't waste our time, alright?"

One ninja climbed out of the window, stretching out a hand to his partner.

Unfortunately for the two, they had dropped their guard by underestimating Cheyenne. Angrily, she took a random shot at the ninja with the one kunai she had. It deeply cut one of them across the cheek, ending its flight in the wall.

The ninja quickly jumped out of the window, looking back with a deathly glare in his eyes as the blood from his wound dribbled down the right side of his face.

"You'll be next!" he growled and jumped off across the rooftops and out of sight.

Cheyenne turned back to the body on the floor and knelt by its side. She took the pale and lifeless hand in hers and began to speak.

"Uncle, I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm most likely the weakest shinobi in our village. You were the best uncle and Tsuchikage in this village. I promise, in honor of our land, I'll improve my skills and hunt down the men that attacked you. I will avenge you!"

She tenderly put her uncle's hand down and stood up. She walked to the window and jumped to the lower levels of the roof. Her eyes began to tear as her feet touched the ground. She cursed herself. Cheyenne had vowed to never cry again after the death of her parents. Her uncle was the last person she had. She was an orphan now, growing up in the heartless world of the shinobi. Cheyenne would keep her promise to avenge her uncle.

Cheyenne wiped the tears from her eyes and dashed into the center of the village. She had to alert someone of what had just occurred. Seeing that it was so late, her best bet was to try the nearest bar. She recognized the most popular and entered. Inside, she saw several jonin that she knew. They had been very close to Lord Tsuchikage.

"Akira-sensei!" she called. He looked up and smiled.

"Cheyenne-kun, what are you doing here? It's very late."

"My uncle, Lord Tsuchikage… he's dead!"

Suddenly the whole bar went silent. The music was stopped and every ninja stood up to look at Cheyenne.

"What?" Akira asked dumbfounded.

"Lord Tsuchikage is dead! I saw two rogue shinobi standing over him. They killed him!"

A jonin across the room, a member of the village's black ops, nodded to his brethren. They put their masks on and made their way to the front of the bar to confront Cheyenne.

"Take us to the murder scene."

Cheyenne looked at the ninja and nodded. She took off for the Rock Pyre with the Black Ops and several other jonin in tow.

**Rock Pyre- **

"I'm sorry, Cheyenne. This is the worst tragedy the village has ever seen."

Cheyenne remained silent as she watched the Black Ops put her uncle in a body bag. Akira put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. She looked up at him, finding it hard to smile back. She noticed a gauze pad was taped to Akira's right cheek. He must have gotten hurt on an earlier mission.

**Funeral (Several Days Later)-**

"Where's Cheyenne?" asked a shinobi, standing before the Tsuchikage's grave stone. Every citizen of the village was gathered to honor their late leader.

"I don't know. Even Akira's gone."

"That's not like either of them."

Cheyenne looked down at the village, watching people disperse from the gravesite. She was standing on the edge of the cliffs that surrounded the village. It was possibly the largest land formation in the Land of Earth. The only way out of the village was through the canyon below her. She sighed.

"Don't worry, uncle. Today, I start my life as a shinobi of the Village Hidden among the Stones."

She would return to the village, but her first priority was to hunt down the murderers. Her first stop: the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

**How was this? I've got plenty more action coming up, so don't bail on my now. These things take slow starts.**

**Please review. **


	3. Chapter 3

"I can't believe it. I go out looking for a good kill and all I find is a stupid genin."

Cheyenne crawled on the ground, trying to avoid a killing blow that the rogue ninja was about to deliver. She backed up against a tree and braced herself. Just as the ninja was about to bring his kunai down, Cheyenne heard a loud chirping. The Rain ninja screamed for mere seconds before he was silenced.

Cheyenne opened her eyes to see three Leaf jonin standing above her. She tried to move, but a sharp pain shot across her chest and she collapsed onto her stomach. Her eyes were open only long enough to see a silver-haired male kneel in front of her.

**A little while later-**

"You're finally awake, huh?"

Cheyenne's eyes opened slightly, the white fluorescent lights hanging above blinding her. She turned her head to see a woman looking over some paperwork. The woman looked up and smiled. Cheyenne groaned as she tried to sit up, only managing to fall on her back again.

"Easy now, you're still recovering."

"Who are you?"

"Tsunade."

Tsunade walked to the doorway and began murmuring to someone outside. Tsunade turned back to Cheyenne, stepping aside to allow the others in. She recognized them as the three who were in the forest. They walked up to the bed and began to speak to her.

"Are you feeling better?" asked a dark-haired female.

"Yes. Who are you three?"

"My name is Kurenai Yuhi. These other two are Might Gai and Kakashi Hatake."

Cheyenne looked over at the three and blushed lightly.

"Thank you for saving me."

Kakashi stepped forward.

"Are you a rock shinobi?"

"Yes."

"Why are you in the land of Fire? Sure, things have settled between out two lands, but you can't cross borders without being a liaison between villages. Plus, seeing what happened in the forest, you're still of genin level. Why are you here?"

Cheyenne, luckily, still remembered why she had come to the village.

"The Tsuchikage…!"

Everyone in the room looked confused.

"I need to speak to the Hokage!"

"What is it?" Tsunade spoke up, "I'm the fifth Hokage. Tell me what has happened.

Cheyenne turned to Tsunade, looking frantic.

"Lord Tsuchikage is dead! He was murdered by two rogue ninja!"

The four were shocked.

"That's why I'm here. I'm supposed to alert you, since the Leaf Village has the most military power."

"Who sent you? It's dangerous sending a genin on such an important mission. This is a S-rank mission."

"I sent myself. Lord Tsuchikage was my uncle, the only family I had. I did this to hunt down his killers and avenge him."

"That's very brave. You don't seem to be any ordinary genin." Kurenai smiled.

Cheyenne wasn't able to smile back. Kurenai's compliment wasn't enough to ease her nerves.

"Does your village need help with security? We could offer a few of out ANBU to help curb villagers concerns."

"My village should be fine for now. Our strongest ninja have been deployed to the perimeters of the village. We'll be safe for now. The only problem that could arise is if the people riot because we have no leader. Right now, I don't think any other shinobi are strong enough to take the title of Tsuchikage. My uncle was going to pass the title on to another soon. He already had a guy in mind. His name was Deidara, but unfortunately before he could hear he was accepted, he ran away to join the Akatsuki. Since then, no one else has been deemed worthy."

Silence doused the room like water being poured over a campfire. Nobody knew what to say.

The quiet was extinguished by a knock on the door. Tsunade opened it to see a boy standing there. He was wearing the same green suit as Gai.

"Lee, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see Gai-sensei. He's late for training."

Lee looked into the room, finding it weird that three jonin and the Hokage were gathered around a bed. He stepped into the room and walked to the bed.

"Who is this, Gai-sensei? Her headband says she's a rock shinobi. Why would you be in the room of a foreigner?"

"Because, she came to report that the Tsuchikage has been killed."

Lee was shocked, even though he didn't know much about the Tsuchikage.

"What rank are you?"

"Genin."

"They sent a genin on such a crucial mission? You must really be strong. Care to spar with me?"

"Lee," Gai sternly addressed his pupil, "This is not a great time. Also, can't you see what kind of condition this girl is in?"

"Actually," interrupted Cheyenne. "I can't stay locked up in the hospital like this. I would like to leave for a while, if that's okay, Lord Hokage."

Tsunade looked at her for a minute, thinking of anything that could go wrong.

"I suppose, but no fighting. Go for a walk or something. When you're done, report back here. I'll know if you're not back because I personally check on all patients."

"Thank you."

Cheyenne was helped out of bed and left the room, following Lee.

"Are you sure that it was safe letting Cheyenne out? There are most likely enemy shinobi on her tail."

Tsunade turned and looked out of the window, staring at the mountain-side monument. She sighed.

"I wouldn't worry about that girl. I sense something very special about her."

**So… how did you like it? I seriously promise that it gets better. Believe me.**

**Please review to make me feel happy.**


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